Stitch by Stitch
by Marie Ford
Summary: When Woody gets scratched up, a strange, mysterious toy known as the Seamstress comes to fix him. It is said that for every stitch she makes, you can ask her any question, and she can even alter the course of history. But Woody has so many unanswered questions, and he only has so little stitches.
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

Bonnie grinned at the box full of kittens, then back to the one with puppies. She hugged Woody as she gazed on, then held him up to her ear as she pretended to listen to something he had to say.

"Mommy, Sheriff Woody thinks I should ask if I could have one? Just one?"

Bonnie's Mom smiled at her and shook her head. "I'm sorry honey, but we're only here so we can pick one up for the neighbor." Bonnie sighed and looked back at the one with puppies in it.

"And we're looking for a cat, Bonnie, not a dog," her Mom added with a smile.

Bonnie followed her over to the cat box, and, placing Woody beside the box, she reached in it and pulled out a cute little gray-and-white kitten. Her eyes lit up as the cat let out a tiny "mew."

"AWWW!" Bonnie cried, and put the cat in Woody's lap, even though it was a good deal bigger than him. She looked deep in the box, and tried to reach the bottom of it. She reached a little to far, and with a thump, all the little kittens fell out.

She stared at all the cats as they roamed around, rubbing up against her, mewing here and there, or scratching and clawing on things.

She didn't notice as she scratched behind their ears, and snuggled up against them, and twenty minutes passed like a breeze.

"Bonnie, we need to to be leaving soon," her Mother said, and shook her head at the mess of kittens. The two quickly got all the cats in the box when Bonnie noticed something missing.

"Where's Woody?" She asked, looking around the box, then she looked in with all the kittens. In the bottom was Woody. Bonnie's Mother carefully reached in, and pulled him out.

Bonnie stared at the toy, who had been quite the interest to the cats. He had six rips in all, one down his back, his right leg, his left arm, one on his shoulder, a small one on his wrist, and one that went right across his chest where his heart would have been.

"Oh, Mommy! Can you fix him?" The little girl held up the toy to her Mother, but she sighed.

"Honey, I'm sure he can be fixed, but I just don't think I'll be able to do it now. But I'll try when we get home."

However, when they got home that afternoon, Bonnie or her Mother couldn't seem to find any need or thread, which they both knew was there.

Meanwhile, in Bonnie's room, everyone was bombarding Woody with questions.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

"Well that's not gonna be easy to fix!" Said Hamm.

"What did you run into out there?" Asked Slinky.

"Woody, what happened to you?!" Jessie cried. Everyone in the room had gathered around Woody as soon as Bonnie had brought him back, and the questions were practically being flung at him.

"Look," Woody said. "Just everyone calm down and-"

"Calm down!?" Rex exclaimed. "Woody, if you saw yourself, I didn't think you'd be calm!"

"Relax, it's only a matter of time before Bonnie and her Mom find a needle and thread. Then it'll be fine." Woody really felt like he wanted a semi to run over him, because it hurt quite a bit, but he didn't say a word. He couldn't have the toys get more worried than they already were. "What happened was a bunch of cats got a hold of me. But I'm fine."

"You know," Mr Pricklepants said, "if they don't find a needle and thread, the Seamstress will come to fix him."

"Who's the Seamstress?" Asked Jessie, as everyone turned to him.

"Well," he begin, lowering his voice, so everyone had to lean forward to hear. "If a toy gets broke, and they've heard of the Seamstress, then she'll come at night to fix them. And..."

"And what!?" Rex cried.

"And for each stitch, she can answer any one question." As the toys ooed and aaed, Woody smacked his hand on his forehead. "Ludicrous," he muttered under his breath.

"Wait a minute," Said Hamm. "You mean Anything?"

"Now that's not possible," Mr Potato Head cried. "What if it's a question about the future, huh? What then?"

"Then she will answer it," Mr Pricklepants said rather dramatically.

"Look," said Woody. "There's no such thing as this Seamstress, ok? Bonnie or her mom will find a needle and thread soon."

Pricklepants smiled. "You've already heard about her, and wether or not you believe she exists will keep her from coming."

Woody wondered if Pricklepants could be any more dramatic. Or cheesy, for that matter.

* * *

><p>That night, as Woody leaned against one of Bonnie's bedposts, he couldn't quite get to sleep, so he stared up at the window, waiting to feel sleepy.<p>

An hour passed.

Then another.

And another.

Before Woody realized it, it was nearly midnight, and everyone was asleep...but him. He tried counting stars, backwards, to a million, anything he could think of, other than counting sheep, but he didn't even feel a tiny bit tired.

At the moment, he was staring out the window, still against the bedpost, at the sliver of the moon he could see. Chuckles was on the shelf, so no one was on the windowsill to keep him company. He was amusing himself by opening his eyes for two seconds, then closing them for two seconds. Opening them, then closing them. Opening. And closing. Opening. And closing. Opening.

And then he saw a tall, dark silhouette of a creature-like toy standing on the windowsill.

Woody jumped and gasped, blinked, then looked again. There wasn't anything there.

He sighed, and leaned back on the post. He was starting to wonder if the things Pricklepants had said about the Seamstress was true. But it wasn't true!

Was it?

Suddenly he heard a strange noise in the living room that resembled a growl. Then he heard the heat vents creak and rattle slightly, and he nervously looked all around.

Then, all was very silent. Woody started to relax again, until he looked up at the window once more, and saw it again. The creature.

It was on the outside of the window, however, and it looked like it couldn't get in. Woody waited, hoping it would go away, but as he watched, it calmly raised the window open without a sound.

And it slithered in, and slowly approached him, and he stared in surprise and fright. It had a cloth body that resembled a snake, and looked about two feet tall, but it had a large, three-foot long tail with fishhooks on the end of it. At the two foot mark it had six giant, metal, spider-like legs that were sharp and skinny, making it look like a snake with legs, and it had six metallic arms, each with something different at the end of it. One had a hand that was made of sewing needles, and another had a triclaw, and another had a hand made of small knives. But what made Woody stare was her face. Her face was mostly cloth, but her right eye, which was a greenish-yellow color, was surrounded by plastic. Her other eye was a black button, and the corners of her lips had been cut, so they nearly went to her ears and it somewhat resembled a Cheshire cat, but it looked like had been sewn back up carelessly, and it appeared to be a permanent smile. Her small, red lips in the center of the smile looked like the color of blood, and she had long black hair that was straight as sticks. She had been stitched up all over her, and she even had a stitch over her button eye that ran across her lips.

She narrowed her eyes, and suddenly lifted him high off the ground with her fishhooks, and raised him till he was eye level with her. Her eyes glittered, and the pupil of her right eye dilated, then suddenly turned to a silt.

"Well, well," she said, eyeing him over. He realized she had needles for teeth. "Aren't you surprised?" She suddenly dropped him, and he landed on his head.

"Who are you?" He asked, but he was sure he already knew the answer, though. But she didn't seem to be listening. She was slowly walking around him, looking him up and down.

"I thought you would be a bit taller, Woody," she commented, as she flicked her tail under his legs, making him land flat on his back. She leaned over so her face was only a few centimeters away from his, making him feel very uncomfortable.

"How do you know my name?" He asked, as calmly as possible. She smiled a full smile, revealing that her seemingly sewn up Cheshire smile was not sewn up, and Woody's eyes grew wide in fright.

"I'm the Seamstress; of course I know your name. I know everyone's name. In fact," she added as she suddenly took a hold of his head and lifted him to his feet. "I can see, EVERYTHING." She said it nice and slow, and with a flick of her wrist, his head was spinning. Then suddenly it stopped, and he was facing her. He jumped.

"Oh, don't be scared, Woody; there's no such thing as the Seamstress. It's...ludicrous, isn't it?"

Her eyes narrowed once more at Woody.

"Oh well. Wether or not you REALLY think I exist, I'll have to do something with you."

With that, she grabbed him by his boots, and slithered out into the living room, through the dog door, and was out of the house.

With Woody wondering in fear what on earth the Seamstress would do to him.

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry I haven't updated in so long, but thank you toystorylover, jmc42199, Sudoku MusicBannana, and TrinaAngel for not giving up. I apologize for the little chapter one. <strong>

**Review please, and thank you for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

Woody was in quite a shock as the toy carried him through dark alleys and across four lane highways. But finally she stopped and put him down, then took a hold of his head and turned it towards a large gate that was old and bent. The creature slipped in past the gate, and as Woody peered through them, he saw a huge, old, broken-down mansion. Most of the windows were broken or gone, it had a ghostly gray color in the moonlight, and a small part of the roof was caved in. It had large stairs leading up to two huge doors, which were open just a bit. Three large towers where sticking out of the house, and were intact, but they looked menacing in the moonlight, as if they were angry at Woody.

He couldn't help but gulp.

"Well, are you coming or not?" the Seamstress asked, but before he could answer, she suddenly appeared beside him.

She turned around, and he saw her eye. It was blue.

Wait. It was green a minute ago, right?

Woody watched it change from blue to indigo, to purple. Black. Gray. White.

She turned and slipped through the gates, and slithered into the house. Woody had no other choice but to follow.

The door had faded, but he could still see some of the colors, like blue and red, green and yellow, and purple and brown. It was carefully and intricately designed, having swirls and strange curls that almost seemed to create an image. As Woody walked closer, he noticed the curls and swirls seemed to move, and they did make a shape.

Of two large eyes staring down at him.

Woody jumped when he saw it, and took a tiny step back. He started to see cold looking teeth underneath the eyes, but before he could run a metallic hand suddenly reached out and yanked him inside. It was the Seamstress.

"Don't worry about that. Just as long as you keep up, you MIGHT not get lost," she said.

Woody looked around the room. They were in a long hallway that had simple objects. A large urn sat by a table that had a flower in a vase, several balls and blocks scattered around the floor, and every few feet there was a flower pot against the wall. There were no doors, but at the end of the hall it turned to the right, and Woody couldn't see around the corner. Nothing seemed to be torn or broken, and other than the awful flowered wallpaper that seemed to have stained patches all over it, it looked like a nice, long hallway.

The Seamstress walked calmly, her pointy legs making a a strange, rhythmic, tinking sound. He looked up to see how tall the room was.

He froze when he saw an upside down table right over his head.

Maybe it was glued on. He kept walking, but then he noticed the vase on the table that was on the ground he was walking on. The water inside the vase vibrated for a moment, the vase and flower swayed, then it turned and fell towards the ceiling. It turned upside down in the air before landing on the upside down table. Not the flower or the water came out.

Woody had been walking and watching above him, so he didn't realize the large block in front of him till he ran into it.

The Seamstress glanced at him for a moment, then pick up the block. "It's best you watch where you're going in this room," she said, as she tossed the block in air a few times, then threw it at the vase above them. The vase shattered, started to fall, then suddenly reversed, putting itself back together again and falling back on the upside down table without spilling a drop. "You don't know what it's going to try and throw at you," she added with a smile.

Woody tried not to be shaken when a ball fell a few feet from him, when the urn was swept to the ceiling, and when a little flower pot almost fell on the Seamstress' head, even though she knew it was coming, and she pushed it out of the way. It bounced off the floor and back to the ceiling.

Woody was starting to get used to the strange atmosphere, and they were almost to the corner, when he suddenly couldn't find the Seamstress. He stopped for a second, then heard the tinking sound of her steps.

Above him.

He looked up. She was casually walking upside down right above him, but then turned around and watched him for a second.

"You're on the wrong side up," she said, and pointed to the door. It seemed to be right side up for Woody, but he suddenly noticed for the first time everything that was on the ground he stood was now upside down and on the ceiling. The Seamstress seemed to be waiting on him to do something.

Woody took a step forward, then suddenly it seemed as if he had fallen down a well. He landed hard on his back at the foot of the Seamstress, who just paused, raised an eyebrow, then walked around him.

"Now you're on the right side," she commented. Woody looked back to see the upside down door, then turned and followed the Seamstress around the corner, and into a door that was on the floor they were walking on.

* * *

><p><em><strong>sorry for taking soooo long. The Seamstress is a bit like a mashup of <strong>_**_Melifisent, the _****_Other Mother from coraline, _****_Miss Spider from James and the Giant peach, _****_Abigail Hardscrabble from Monsters University, _****_Babyface from Toy story, and Sally from nightmare before Christmas._**

**_I wonder what's in the next room?_**

**_Anyway, R&R please!_**


End file.
